Here We Go Again . . . Fighting Cancer With Food v. 2.0

The end of July, I noticed a dimple in my right breast. This is often caused by a growth inside pulling on the skin, and usually indicates cancer.  Because my primary care physician retired, I had to find a new one that could give me a referral for imaging -- i.e. ultrasound, and probably mammogram.  The imaging finally happened September 17, and I found myself once again feeling like I needed to reassure the mammography tech (and the student watching), the sonographer (and the student watching), and the radiologist that this was not a big shock, and that they needn't feel bad about it.  It felt like old times 😉

It's quite a bit more advanced than last time -- more cysts have become tumors, a few lymph nodes are involved, and there are suspicious blobs in the left breast as well. The term is "metastatic," though I don't *feel* like I have something foreign growing in me. I haven't decided yet whether or not to get biopsies of the lumps in the left breast, but I'm okay with figuring that the ones in the right breast are the same as last time. It isn't common to have cancer in both breasts (Google says 2-11% of the time), but it really doesn't matter because like last time, I will be treating the whole body, mind, and spirit, not individual lumps.

I can hear a few questions now, so I'll address them here:

- Yes, I did have a mammogram, and yes, we did both breasts. It's been 12 years since the last one, so I felt comfortable with it. And asking a radiologist to do his job with only an ultrasound is like asking me to do a massage using only one hand. If I want the information he can give, I have to let him do his job the way he needs to do it.  I didn't get to visit with him very long afterwards because I had a client waiting, so I'm hoping to make another appt where he can show me what he's seeing in the pictures.  I'd like to be able to visualize what's going on in there.

- Yes, I'm still glad I didn't go the conventional treatment route of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. It's been 12 years since my last diagnosis, and 11 years since my last ultrasound where they couldn't find anything. During that time, I spent zero days recuperating from surgery, having a swollen arm from lymph nodes being removed, being sick from chemo, or dealing with radiation burn. People who go the conventional route cope with all of that, and often have return of cancer at about five years. So yes, I'm very glad.

- Yes, I do have some pretty good ideas of why my cancer returned. More on that in future posts.

- Yes, I do have an idea of how I will be treating myself this time. More on that in future posts, as well.

If you'd like to know when I add new installments, you'll need to subscribe to this blog, because I don't plan to post announcements on Facebook like I did last time. It's not a secret, but I also don't feel inclined to broadcast it to the world.  Until next time . . .